Improvement in riddles for separating grain



COOPER 8L DGNALDSON.

Grain `R'ddl Patented NOV. 2,9., 1870..

N.FETERS. FHuTo-UTHOCHAFHER, wASHlNGTau D C @anni @mit A MATTHEW M. COOPER AND JAMES W.,DONALDSON,"OF

' FORNIA.

Letters Patent' Ne 109,716, dated November 29, 1870.

IMPRovEMi-:NTfIN RIDD'LES FoR sEPARATlNe GRAIN.

The Schede referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all lwhom it may concern.-

-Be it known that we, MATTHEW M1; Coornn and JAMES NV. DONALDSON, of Faireld, inthe county of Solano and State of California, haveA inrented an Improved Riddle for Separating Grain; and we do hereby declare that 'the following is a full and 'exact descripltion of the same, reference being had to the'accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon. h

Our invention relates to that class of grain-separators used at' the tail end of a thrasher to receive the grain, headingsfzcha", straw, &c., coming from the cylinder, and, by the aid of the blast from the thrasherfan, separates the grain from its lighter and more bulkyinipurities; the object being to provide a'clevice that shall belighter and less bulky than the machines hitherto used for the purpose.

This invention consists vof a screen or riddle so constructed as to complete the separation above referred to at one operation, and consequently accomplishes the object not, only by obviating the necessity of employing a number of screens or riddles instead of a single one, but also reduces the amount offraming required to inclose said screens, the device vbeing so'constru'eted that with a suficiently strong blast no'` motion ot' the riddle itself is necessary; consequently the niaehinery `hitherto employed to give motion to the screen'and riddle is not required in connection with our invention In the 'annexed drawing- Figure 1 is a plan of an improved riddle embodying our invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section ot' the same.

Figure 3 is an edge view of a portion of the front, on an enlarged scale.

Like letters refer to like parts in all ot thefigures.

A'is a rectangular frame, to which all the other parts are firmly secured.

B are inclined planes made of sheet metal, extending transversely across the inside ot' the frame, and serve to intercept the blast and direct its course upward through the screen, as shown bythe arrows.

G are longitudinal plates or partitions, also formed of sheet metal, serving to divide the blast into currents and prevent the formation of eddies above the screen. n

D are wires, stretched longitudinally across the top of.the. screenframe at such a distance apart as to admit of the passage ofthe grain through between them.

Then in operation, the riddle must be so placed that the grain, straw, chad, 85e., omthe cylinder of the thrashcr will fall upon the upper surface near the for- 'ivard end, and so incased that the blast from the thrasher-fan must iind its way'up-between the inclined planes as shown by the arrows, and set either horizontally or inclined, to correspond to the forcey of the blast and to the wet orjdry condition of the grain.

It will be obvious that when the riddle is so adjusted and arranged, the blast would lift and toss about A the headings, chaff, and straw, carrying them always toward andv off the tail end 5 but the grain, being heavy, and presenting less suriace to the blast, would drop down between the inclined planes into a suitable receptacle below, and the separation required be thus effected at one operation and with a single screen.

Should the blast be v'ery light, some shaking o r jarring of the riddle will facilitatethe separation.

'lhe screen surface, being formed ot longitudinal v wires only, offers no opposition or impediment to the' passage ot' the straw along said surface.

We-are aware that separators have been providedy with frames having inclined planes similar to the ones herein described, in combination with longitudinal rods instead of with the longitudinal platesor partitions C formed of sheet metal, ot' our invention.A But the 'rods s'o employed offer much more obstruction to the upward passage of the air than the plates, and do not eieet the object designed by our invention.

, Therefore we do not claim broadly the employment of the inclined plane, neither dowe claim as new the employment of screens formed of longitudinal wires only; but

\Vhat -we do claim 'as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

lhe riddle herein described, consisting of the frame A,the inclined planes B, the longitudinal'plates or partitions C, and the longitudinal wires D, when combined and arranged -to operate substantiallvas described, and for the purpose set forth.

In'fwitness whereof', we have hereunto set our hands and seals.

MATTHEW M. oooiinn. [1.. s]

.I AMES W. DONALDSON [.n. s]

writes es;

O. V. M. SMITH, H. S. TIBBEY.

FAIRFIELD, CALI'- 

